NNA - An Egyptian court sentenced 529 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood to death on charges including murder on Monday, a defence lawyer said, in a sharp escalation of a crackdown on the movement, Reuters reported.

The ruling was the biggest mass death sentence handed out in Egypt's modern history, lawyers said.

Turmoil has deepened since the army overthrew Egypt's first freely elected president, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, in July.